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This image is an unannotated version of NASA Planetary Photojournal Home Page graphic. This digital collage contains a highly stylized rendition of our solar system and points beyond.
A Engineer looks over one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments.

About NASA Science

Science is interconnected; no important question stands alone. The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is an organization where discoveries in one scientific discipline have a direct route to other areas of study. This flow is something extremely valuable and is rare in the scientific world.

NASA Science Fleet Chart

NASA Science missions circle the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, and many other destinations within our Solar System, including spacecraft that look out even further into our universe. The Science Fleet depicts the scope of NASA’s activity and how our missions have permeated throughout the solar system.

NASA’s Operating and Future Science Fleet, as of March 20, 2025, is illustrated in a space-themed chart with Earth on the left, the Sun at center, and planets from Mars to the outer solar system on the right. The image categorizes missions by scientific focus—Earth science (green), heliophysics (yellow), planetary science (purple), astrophysics (blue), and biological & physical science (orange).  Missions are labeled around their target areas:  Earth-orbiting missions like Landsat, SWOT, NISAR, and PACE are clustered near Earth. Lunar missions, including Artemis III and Lunar Trailblazer, are positioned around the Moon. Solar missions such as Parker Solar Probe, SDO, and TRACERS surround the Sun. Planetary missions like Perseverance and Curiosity appear near Mars; Europa Clipper near Jupiter; Dragonfly near Saturn. Deep space missions including Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons, and astrophysics observatories like Webb, Hubble, Roman, and Chandra are placed farther out in the cosmos. Missions shown in bold are future launches. Partner-led missions are marked with asterisks (*), commercial partnerships with double asterisks (**), and missions under review with carets (^). An ISS silhouette anchors the Earth-orbiting biological and physical science payloads.
Updated March 2025

“It’s important to remind ourselves that we have the most glorious jobs in the world. We are all paid to figure out how the universe began and how it evolves. We’re paid to try to figure out how the night sky, full of galaxies and stars and planets, came to be. And we’re paid to try to find life elsewhere in the universe. What could be better than that?”

Paul hertz

Paul hertz

Former Director of Astrophysics Division

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Science Career Path Tool

Learn more about our science career paths in NASA's Science Career Path Tool. This interactive tool features five distinct science careers tracks and summarizes the common roles across all of NASA's science workforce. View the Science Career Path Tool.

Screenshot of Career Path Tool website